HEAVYWEIGHT TITANS TO MAKE HISTORY IN SAUDI

The two best heavyweight boxers on the planet will put it all on the line this weekend as the lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury takes on the former undisputed cruiserweight, and now unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, in a bid to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era.

Originally scheduled for February, but pushed back to May 18th due to a cut suffered by Fury on his eye, this is a fight that has felt like it’s been in the making for an extremely long time.

Standing at a daunting 6’9”, Fury has built up a reputation as one of the most controversial, charismatic and unpredictable heavyweights in boxing history, and that is just inside the ring.

Undefeated in 35 professional contests, the only minor blip on his record came when the judges controversially scored his first fight with Deontay Wilder a draw, a bout in which the Brit pretty much lost 30 seconds out of the full 36 minutes, so read into that what you will.

As we all know, he went on to stop Wilder not once but twice, both in emphatic fashion, in their next two fights before successful world title defences against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.

A lacklustre performance against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou followed, which saw Fury having to climb off the deck to secure what some people believe was a controversial points victory when, in reality, there was barely any controversy at all with the Gypsy King pretty much winning six of the eight rounds by simply outboxing his opponent.

Now, though, the heavyweight giant faces the toughest test of his career against the much smaller, but equally talented, Usyk.

An Olympic gold medalist in 2012, the supremely talented Ukrainian has been faultless in the professional ranks so far.

After winning the World Boxing Super Series in a run that included victories over Marco Huck, Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev, he became the undisputed world cruiserweight champion in just his 16th fight when knocking out Tony Bellew in vigorous fashion in Manchester.

He had now ‘completed’ cruiserweight and took the step up to heavyweight in a bid to become a two-weight world champion.

Victories over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora set him up for a crack at the then-unified heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, in a fight which will live long in boxing memory.

On away soil, as he has been in eight of his nine world title fights to date, it was a battle of the 2012 Olympic heavyweight and super-heavyweight gold medalists, and against all of the odds, it was Usyk who came out on top.

A slick, intelligent and mesmerising 12 rounds of pure boxing prowess, Usyk solidified his claims as one of the best P4P fighters of this generation.

He backed up that performance in style when proving to be Joshua’s kryptonite once again, retaining his titles in their rematch 11 months later in Saudi before having to climb off the canvas, albeit for a shot that was deemed to be below the belt, to stop another British contender in Daniel Dubois last August.

He now steps up in opposition once again, facing undoubtedly the biggest test of his career against Fury.

There are no shortage of questions surrounding this fight, but when the big boys collide, that will always be the case. And make no mistake, this is arguably the biggest heavyweight clash of the 21st century.

Is Usyk strong enough to deal with Fury’s size? Is Fury’s cut fully healed? Is Fury quick enough, and intelligent enough, to deal with Usyk’s awkward southpaw style? Just a few questions which will be answered in Saudi this weekend.

Taking their most recent fights into account, you would undoubtedly favour Usyk. However, you don’t need to have watched all of Fury’s 35 professional bouts to acknowledge that, against Ngannou, he was a shadow of the man that put in three incredible performances against Wilder.

Fury has shown on countless occasions that when people doubt him, he is often at his best.

Many claimed he wouldn’t dethrone Klitschko, he did. Many claimed he’d never fight again after suffering with mental health and putting on over 12 stone in weight. He did. Many claimed he wouldn’t get close to beating Deontay Wilder, he did and did it twice, emphatically. Now, many are claiming he won’t beat Usyk, but if his track record is anything to go by, it’d take a brave person to bet against him.

In Usyk, Fury comes up against a generational talent. A tricky southpaw with the hand speed and footwork of a middleweight, and the boxing IQ of someone who’s been boxing for hundreds of years. He has won every fight he has fought, amateur and pro, since his loss to Egor Mekhontsev back in September 2009. The man is a winner.

You will rarely come across a clash where the two fighters are so evenly matched, hence the reason for a two-way rematch clause, with the second bout set to kick off the 2024/25 Riyadh Season in mid-October. The only way that won’t happen is if one man dominates this weekend to such an extent that there is no demand to see them face off again. Highly unlikely, it’s fair to say.

What we know for certain is that this coming Saturday, the talking stops.

Finally, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk collide.

Who will come out on top? Only time will tell.

It’s been a long time coming, so sit back and enjoy, because these are the fights we live for.

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